This invention relates generally to plastic jacketed electrical cables and more specifically to a cable construction employing poly(vinylidene fluoride) resin materials.
Plenum cables are electrical power and signal carrying cables which are located in the air spaces between the floors of buildings and suspended ceilings beneath the floors. Because these air spaces normally are continuous, if flammable materials are employed in electrical cable construction, the cables can contribute to the rapid spread of fire and smoke throughout the entire floor of the building. Therefore, where flammable materials are included, the cables must be encased in metal conduits, which are expensive. Polyfluorinated resins such as fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) have been employed to provide flame-resistant and low-smoke producing coatings so that metal conduits are not required. We have now found a polyfluorinated resin containing cable construction which has exceptionally low flame spread and smoke production properties so that such cables are especially suited for use in plenum cable systems.